FHWA Tour for Geotechnology - Soil Nailing

FHWA-PL-90-020

The scanning tour of soil nailing technology described in this report was very informative and productive. Although some of the team members were familiar with much of the technology prior to this trip, there was sufficient new information presented to be of significant value to our current and future efforts. All team members benefited from face-to-face discussions with the leading European researchers and practitioners and from the in-depth review of available European soil nailing information. The new associations developed with some of the top geotechnical specialists in each country will prove very valuable in the future.

The Europeans have established themselves as leaders in the field of soil nailing technology and practice. The on-going and completed research projects have made a major contribution to our understanding of the mechanics of soil nailing behavior. Although we have constructed soil nail walls within North America which are equal in size to some of the largest walls constructed in Europe, the overall scope of soil nailing activity in Europe is considerably larger than in North America. In addition, the Europeans have significant experience with some soil nailing construction techniques which have not been employed in North America. From a technological and a construction practices view, therefore, there is much valuable information to be obtained from the European experience.

During the three week tour of three countries and discussions with representatives at 21 consulting, contracting, teaching, research and public sector organizations, the scanning team focussed on a number of different aspects of soil nailing - design, construction and contracting practices, and research and development activities. The results of our team scanning effort are summarized below.

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